I saw this video the other day and thought I should share it here. It’s a home movie of Kalamazoo in 1952. At first you can see a good view of the Inkster neighborhood, then there is a panoramic view of the city, including the KPH Water Tower built by my great-great-grandfather, Richard DeKorn.
I almost remember that Kalamazoo, although I didn’t arrive there until 1956, as I was a baby when my parents moved back to Kalamazoo. Here is the famous Kalamazoo mall from about 1960, which is as I remember it from my childhood.
Here’s a video of Kalamazoo today. Please ignore the RUDE comments people have written after this video. Note Paris Cleaners at 3:24. See how the building is purple? The Paris Cleaners near my grandparents’ house when I was growing up was even more purple. Grandma used to single “Purple People Eaters” to me every time we passed it. We danced a little, too.
And to round things out here is a video of the damage from the 1980 tornado that hit downtown Kalamazoo. I happened to be there that day, at work, and it was incredible. Five people died that day.
You can see from the second video that Kalamazoo has rebuilt after the tornado. It’s a beautiful downtown.
The Family Kalamazoo 
Cool videos! Especially the first one, which reminded me of my uncle’s old home movies. People walking out the door, people in the backyards. And those old cars! So 1952!
I didn’t catch the purple cleaners in the second one—-your note says at 3:25, but the video is less than three minutes long. Am I misunderstanding?
And whoa, that was one scary looking twister!
Oh man, I was going to check this post over before it went up this morning, but i had it set wrong! I used the wrong link (that was the wrong video) and have now corrected it. Thank you, Amy!!!! What happened was that after I watched the one I wanted it immediately went into the other video and somehow I grabbed that link instead. That drive through at night gave me vertigo ;). I know, that first video from 1952 is so cool. The one I meant to have in the middle, which is now up there, is also nice as it gives a view of Kalamazoo today.
OK, I will go back and take a look. (I can’t tell you how many times people have caught errors and typos in my posts—I am always so glad that we an edit these things!)
Mrs parfet has released a book she just did on the gilmores and upjohns. I will send you one portion you can find more on milive.
Sent from my iPad
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That would be great! Thank you. Hugs to you and Aunt Jean xoxo.
Did I ever tell you I went to Kalamazoo to visit a friend I met my 16th summer who went to college there? I visited her twice while I went to Bowling Green State University. It is a charming film and town. The tower really stands out in the scene, above the other parts of the town. The bikes rolling down the hill was such a fun example of the ‘good old days,’ Luanne! I like how everyone comes out of the house and waves to the camera, too. Your family members have such nice clothes. The town is really bustling in the 1960 photograph. I would have enjoyed growing up there and I love the fact your grandmother would sing the song, “Purple People Eaters” to you! Dancing to the tune, such a great memory, Luanne!
Robin, you didn’t tell me that! That sounds fun! I can’t take credit for the 1952 clothes, alas, as they are not my relatives, but a video I saw online and really liked. My grandmother and I used to walk “uptown” to the downtown fairly often, and it was always fun. We would usually take a bus for part of the walk and then get a sugar cookie at the bakery when we got to the downtown.
Sharing with my friend who also grew up near Kalamazoo. He’ll get a kick out of this.
Oh wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing with him!
Great photos of K’zoo. Ditto the video tour. The tornado video was shocking but just how I would feel and what I would wonder. “Is that a tornado? Yes it is! Let’s get out of here!”
The tornado was surreal. One moment Kalamazoo was downtown as usual–and within minutes so much was destroyed. It was a day I can never forget!
Glad to have the opportunity to view this. Ed